John Ashaolu believes you play the way you practice. Hence the Seton-La Salle girls’ basketball coach was none surprised that his Lady Rebels went to Bishop Canevin Jan. 14 and skunked the Crusaders, 66-35, in a critical clash between two unbeaten Section 4-A clubs.

The Rebels practiced “hard” the better part of two hours in preparation for their showdown with their rival and last year’s WPIAL championship opponent.

“In our practices,” Ashaolu said, “we get after it. We practiced real tough and with a lot of intensity. I’m a strong believer that you go hard in everything you do.”

At SLS, even walk throughs are as challenging as practices. In fact, right before the Canevin contest, Ashaolu said he wasn’t satisfied with some of things his players were doing that they ran so much. Observers wondered if the team would have anything left.

“That translated over to the game,” he said. “The girls responded.”

Indeed, the Rebels jumped on the Crusaders, bolting to a 10-0 lead that expanded to a 31-10 advantage. Though Canevin closed the gap to 31-15 by halftime, SLS widened the margin to 46-21 after three quarters.

“Defense set the tone,” said Ashaolu. “We play it as a team.”

While Cassidy Walsh was shutting down Canevin’s top scoring threat, Erin Waskowiak, the Rebels’ offense continued to roll. In rolling to a 12-1 record, Seton-La Salle has scored 993 points for an average of 70.6 per game.

Naje Gibson led the way with 19 points. The junior recently topped 1,000 for her career with 14 markers in the Rebels’ win against Hollidaysburg during the weekend’s Gateway Hoops Classic.

Nicolette Newman supplied 14 points while Angela Heintz and Katherine Hart chipped in nine and eight tallies respectively. Shaunay Edmonds came off the bench and provided seven points. The freshman has an abundance of talent says Ashaolu.

“I’m really hard on her but she can take that. She has a lot of potential. I tell her ‘I want you to be great not good’ and she’s playing at a level that will accelerate her development.”

Tops for the Indians were Bridget Loether with 20 and Madison Kerr with 11 markers.

The Indians also succumbed to Canon-McMillan, 54-48. In the Lady Macs’ first win, Olivia Lorusso and Abby Gillespie fired in 17 and 15 points apiece. Kerr (13), Loether (11), Cameron Morgan (10) and Casey Cogley (10) led the PT attack.

With less than 18 seconds to play, Harper Zimmer buried a bucket and lifted Bethel Park to a dramatic, come-from-behind victory, 37-36, over Chartiers Valley. Zimmer finished with 11 points while Megan Marecic topped out with 15 markers.

For the Colts, who jumped to a 10-0 leads and kept that 10-point bulge at halftime, received 13 points from Kassidy O’Keefe and 11 tallies from Mariah Wells.